Supermarkets remain the most trusted while Qantas’ reputation crashes and distrust for Optus and Medibank soars
Retail heavyweights have continued to lead the way in the latest Roy Morgan ‘Net Trust’ rankings. The top five most trusted brands are unchanged for a fifth straight quarter - Woolworths, Coles, Bunnings, ALDI and Kmart.
The previously highly trusted QANTAS has nosedived, falling 31 places, moving from the 9th most trusted brand in the September quarter to the 40th most trusted brand in the December quarter. Just six months ago the national carrier, which has been plagued by perceptions of poor customer service, flight delays, cancellations, and rising prices, was the 6th most trusted brand in the country. The brand now records only marginally more trust than distrust, whereas in the past its trust far surpassed its distrust.
The September 2022 data breach has caused Optus’ Net Distrust Score to deteriorate significantly, moving from the 17th most distrusted brand in the September quarter, to the 2nd most distrusted brand in the December quarter – displacing Telstra. Only Facebook / Meta is now more distrusted than Optus.
Medibank suffered a similar fate as a result of their own data breach in October 2022. The private health insurer was previously a trusted brand, but has now become the 14th most distrusted brand in the country.
Roy Morgan data scientists analysed nominations from more than 22,000 Australians to identify the nation’s most trusted and most distrusted brands.
Click here to register for the Roy Morgan webinar on Australia’s most trusted and distrusted brands in December 2022 quarter with a special focus on Qantas, Optus, Telstra and Medibank.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says that brands need to be aware of the dangers that distrust presents in the wake of major scandals.
“What we see with brands that suffer major scandals is that once distrust takes hold, it is very difficult to curtail. We saw it with AMP and the big four banks following the Royal Commission, and we are still seeing it with Harvey Norman. More than 2 years after the JobKeeper scandal they are still ranked in the top 10 most distrusted brands in the country.”
“The first step in re-building trust is to eliminate distrust, and only Roy Morgan measures distrust.”
Other big movers in the ‘Net Trust’ rankings include Twitter, which has moved from the 16th most distrusted brand to the 11th most distrusted brand this quarter, following the purchase of the social media giant by billionaire Elon Musk.
BP has also moved back into the Top 20 most distrusted brands, moving from 21st to 16th.
The top 10 most trusted brands in Australia: December 2022 (Change from September 2022)
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia). Risk Monitor, January 2022 – December 2022. Key commercial brands with 20+ mentions. Base: Australians 14+; n=22,964.
The top 10 most distrusted brands in Australia: December 2022 (Change from September 2022)
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia). Risk Monitor, January 2022 – December 2022. Key commercial brands with 20+ mentions. Base: Australians 14+; n=22,964.
Roy Morgan Risk Monitor data is made available in a variety of formats, from snapshot overviews to detailed tracking of individual brands and their competitors.
To learn more call (+61) (3) 9224 5309 or email askroymorgan@roymorgan.com.
The latest Risk Report 2022 ranking over 200 brands on Net Trust Scores or Net Distrust Scores is available here.
Click here to register for the Roy Morgan webinar on Australia’s most trusted and distrusted brands in December 2022 quarter with a special focus on Qantas, Optus, Telstra and Medibank.
The Roy Morgan Risk Monitor surveys approximately 1,800 Australians every month to measure levels of trust and distrust in more than 900 brands across 26 industry sectors. Respondents are asked which brands and companies they trust, and why, and which brand and companies they distrust, and why. The survey is specially designed to be open-ended and context-free, i.e., unprompted.
About Roy Morgan
Roy Morgan is the source of the most comprehensive data on Australians’ behaviour and attitudes, surveying over 1,000 people weekly in a continuous cycle that has been running for two decades. The company has more than 80 years’ experience collecting objective, independent information.
Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
